Local cancer survivors beat odds on weight loss goals with help of two UVM med students

Two University of Vermont medical students wanted to help cancer survivors live their best lives. Doctors said it couldn't be done, but their nutrition group lost a total of 175 pounds in 12 weeks.
NICOLE HIGGINS DeSMET/Free Press

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Cancer survivor Mary Young with University of Vermont medical student Lauren Donnelly talk in the Steps to Wellness gym in South Burlington on Nov. 6, 2017.(Photo: NICOLE HIGGINS DeSMET/Free Press)Buy Photo

Doctors said it couldn't be done, but two medical student volunteers helped a group of medically challenged cancer survivors beat long odds to lose 175 total pounds.

Dr. Patricia O'Brien, a primary care physician at UVM and a mentor for the students’ weight-loss class, said no one expected the students to have such success.

"They were so optimistic. We didn’t want them to be disappointed," O'Brien said, explaining that the students were warned that due to the group's medical issues there would probably be a combined total weight loss of 20 pounds.

But the two energetic University of Vermont medical student volunteers, Lauren Donnelly and Kirsten Martin helped their wary middle-aged cancer survivors to lose a collective 175 pounds over 12 weeks, according to program records after the final weigh-in on Nov. 13.

The group consisted of 17 women at risk of cancer recurrence due to the types of cancer they'd had and their struggles with obesity, which increases the likelihood the disease will reappear. All had been through treatment at UVM Medical Center. The women also previously participated in the free Steps to Wellness fitness program, begun by the students' other mentor and oncologist Dr. Kim Dittus.

"They were planning on having it be a lesson for us on how difficult it is realistically for this group to lose weight," Donnelly said.

Donnelly, 23, a Burlington native, with fellow 2nd-year med student Martin, also 23, of Novato, California made a difference because of their dedication to the group, according to program participant Mary Young, who is recovering from endometrial cancer.

Young said she came to the program with a lot of doubt.

"I’ve done a lot of weight programs, I mean there’s not one out there I haven’t really tried, but this really wasn’t the same. This was a learning experience," Young said, praising the two women.

Young said the information the two medical students brought to the program every week went deep into the program material and used the knowledge the two gained from their class work as well as outside research.

"They would talk to you about what they had learned in reference to what you were going to learn that day — and that made such a difference," Young said.

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Mary Young was part of a grant funded pilot to help cancer survivors lose weight at Steps to Wellness in South Burlington, on Nov. 6, 2017.(Photo: NICOLE HIGGINS DeSMET/Free Press)

On Nov. 6, the group met for its' next-to-last session. The women gathered around a conference table at the South Burlington center in the early twilight to commiserate about the difficulties of staying active in the darkest part of the year when many would rather hide under a blanket.

"We don't have the answers to everything, but we have 17 participants in the room who have all gone through this for years and somebody has the answer," Donnelly said before the meeting. "I think people have learned from each other as much as they have learned from us."

Donnelly started the session off with research into vitamin B12 which had come up as a question in the previous class. Then Martin addressed one of the main topics of the evening: the plateau. After initially losing weight, some people stop seeing progress on the same scale even though they continue their routine of diet and exercise.

Martin explained this as a weight-loss pattern and led a discussion with the women about focusing on positives when it happened.

"Think about all the weight you have lost instead. Look at the bigger picture," Martin said.

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University of Vermont medical student Kirsten Martin talks to Mary Young on Nov. 6, 2017 as part of a nutrition group at the Steps for Wellness Center in South Burlington.(Photo: NICOLE HIGGINS DeSMET/Free Press)

Group member Kathy Newton said she noticed a big life changing difference the weekend before the meeting which had more to do with strength than weight.

"We have UVM basketball tickets and last year I had a hard time getting up to the bleacher. But this year I just went right up. I was even better coming down. It felt good," Newton said.

Others, like Jamie Balch who was treated for a brain tumor, reaffirmed goals for the future.

"My hope is to do a 5K next year," Balch said after telling the group how her son Adrian in Houston sent her the medal he earned in October by running in a Head for the Cure fundraiser for brain cancer research.

Dr. O'Brien said in a phone interview that the results came not from the materials used in the class, though they provided the structure. Instead, she said, it was the bond the students formed with their "patients."

Doctors today have time to ask questions to make a diagnosis, but not much else, according to O'Brien.

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University of Vermont 2nd-year medical students Lauren Donnelly and Kirsten Martin led a grant-funded weight loss program at Steps to Wellness in South Burlington that achieved success beyond their mentors' predictions for the group of cancer survivors on Nov. 6, 2017.(Photo: NICOLE HIGGINS DeSMET/Free press)

"They listened to what the women said and gave them a personal response with an open heart and no judgement, which was very special for the women struggling with weight and cancer," O'Brien said.

Whether the program will continue is still under discussion. The materials for the class and the professional nutritionist, Caryn Davis, who was present as a guide and a resource for both students and patients was paid for by grant money available through Dr. O’Brien and the cancer center.

The students' participation was funded by an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship grant. Schweitzer fellowships help vulnerable populations live healthy fulfilling lives.

The students think it’s important that medical students continue the project if funding can be found.

"We have learned so much from working with these women over the last 12 weeks about how to talk to patients and what it is to lose weight for women in their circumstances." Martin said explaining that she had to correct weight loss assumptions made by students in class who thought theoretical patients could simply lose 20 pounds before a treatment.

"Personally I don’t think there is anything special about Kirsten and me. In medical school there are people who can make this happen. And I think it’s important to bring youth and energy from medical school to this population," Donnelly said.

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2nd-year University of Vermont medical student Kirsten Martin weighs in nutrition group member Mary Young on Nov. 6, 2017, before the weekly meeting begins.(Photo: NICOLE HIGGINS DeSMET/Free Press)